Where would Charlie be without Bill?
by Joey Potter
Summary: Just a little short fic, written from a dream. Bill wonders about how Charlie's life would have been without him. Please R/R.


Disclaimer: Bill, Charlie, The Burrow and the Ministry of Magic belong to J.K. Rowling.  
  
A/N: Okay, this was actually something I dreamt last night after reading 'Blood and water' by Dragonessa Smith (she's a fantastic author, especially 'Blood and water' and 'What's in a name? I'm not sure' are fabulous). I'm just adding a little (much) more to my dream here and there. Oh, and don't ask me who or what the light are, 'cause I don't know. She was just there in my dream.  
  
WHERE WOULD CHARLIE BE WITHOUT BILL?  
  
Bill Weasley sat in his living room and looked out the window. It was dark outside, but the moon and the stars were shining. 'And the same stars shine on the Burrow', Bill thought. Not that he missed his home, but when it was dark and late at night, he sometimes became sentimental. 'And they shine on Romania too'. Bill thought about his family. Baby sister Ginny. well, she wasn't a baby anymore, she was twelve. Thinking about clothes and make-up. and boys. Bill chuckled to himself. In his last letter, Ron had told him about Ginny's crush on Harry Potter, Ron's best friend. Ron, yes. he was growing too. Third year at Hogwarts. best friend with Harry Potter. then there was the twins. trouble-makers extraordinaire. Magical Mischief- Makers. That was what Bill called them. And Percy. Perfect Percy. He was Head Boy now. A real rule-lover. 'Well, you would probably have been just like him, if it hadn't been for Charlie', Bill thought. Charlie, yes. 'Where would I be without him?' Bill didn't know the answer. Then suddenly another thought jumped into his head: 'Where would Charlie be without me?' Bill had never thought about that before, but it was kind of an interesting thought. 'Nah, he would probably be the same place as he is today. Off in Romania chasing dragons, getting burned and bitten and whatever he does up there. He doesn't need me'. That was a little sad to think about. Bill leaned back in the armchair. He was almost asleep, when suddenly a light showed up in front of him.  
  
"Huh? Who's there?" Bill asked, as he sat up in a hurry.  
  
The voice that answered him sounded like a woman, even though it only was a whisper. "I can't tell you who I am, but I can show you something you never would have thought about".  
  
"What?"  
  
"I can show you where your brother would be without you", the voice whispered.  
  
"You mean Charlie?" Bill asked.  
  
"Yes", whispered the voice.  
  
Bill couldn't see anything but the light, but the voice sounded innocent. He decided that it couldn't be so dangerous to follow her. if it was a her. It was a woman's voice, but you could never know.  
  
"Show me", he said.  
  
The living room started to spin, and suddenly Bill stood in a room he had never seen before.  
  
"Where are we?" he asked the light. She stood right beside him.  
  
"This", she whispered, "is where Charlie lives".  
  
"You must be kidding. I've seen Charlie's house and it looks nothing like this".  
  
"No, this is where Charlie would live if you never had been born", the light whispered. "In this world, no one can see, hear or feel you. So, do you want to see your brother?" Bill nodded. The light leaded him across the dirty floor and through a door.  
  
The room was cold and everything but clean. Everywhere lay bottles which certainly not had contained butterbeer. On the floor lay things Bill recognised as.  
  
"Drugs?! You're not telling me that Charlie's on drugs?" he almost screamed.  
  
"He is", the voice whispered. "And he's really far out there".  
  
Now Bill eyed Charlie on a mattress in the corner of the room. He was fast asleep. Bill looked terrified at him. This was his brother? The Charlie he knew was chunky and muscly, even though he hated to be called 'Chunky Charlie'. This guy was thin, pale and looked sick.  
  
"Charlie." Bill said quietly and sank down on his knees. He reached out to stroke over Charlie's hair, but then he remembered that he couldn't touch anything here. Instead, he just looked at his brother. "Why, Charlie? Why did you go this far?" he whispered, even though he knew Charlie couldn't hear him. Bill looked down at Charlie's body. In defiance of the coldness in the room, Charlie was wearing a pair of holed, shabby jeans and an undershirt. Both quite dirty just like everything else in the room. Bill's eyes feel on Charlie's arms, which were covered in loads of little scars.  
  
"He's a cutter?" Bill asked with a look at the light.  
  
"Yes", she whispered in a sad voice. This was almost too much. Bill wasn't far from tears, when someone suddenly knocked hard on the door.  
  
"Open the door, Weasley, we know you're in there!" shouted a man's voice. He knocked harder on the door, and Charlie woke up. He opened the door.  
  
"There you are!" the man shouted. "I'm from the Ministry of Magic, and I'm afraid I have to take you with me!"  
  
"Why?" Charlie asked in a hoarse voice, very unlike his usual energetic, boyish one.  
  
"I guess you know that!" shouted the man. Then he used the handcuff-spell, and walked away with Charlie behind him.  
  
"No", Bill said, shaking his head. "This can't be true".  
  
"It would have been, if Charlie didn't had had such a brilliant big brother", the light said.  
  
"I can't take any more. Will you please take me back now?" Bill asked.  
  
Ten seconds later, he stood in his own living room.  
  
"Oh, I'm so happy I was born! I'm so happy I'm a Weasley! I'm so happy I'm Charlie's big brother! Oh, and I'm glad you showed me that. Now I know that Charlie needs me." Bill stopped and looked around. The light was gone.  
  
"Hello? Are you there?" he called. No one answered. 'Maybe it was all a dream. Maybe I fell asleep and dreamt it all', Bill thought. 'I'd better go to bed. It has been a long day'. And with these thoughts, Bill walked towards his bedroom, not knowing that the light right now was on her way to Romania, where another redheaded, freckled guy still was awake.... 


End file.
